The Onco’Zine Brief – Scheduled Programs 2020

The Onco’Zine Brief is a 100% independent radio broadcast/podcast concept developed for Public Radio by Sunvalley Communication and includes interviews and discussions covering the latest information about cancer, cancer diagnostics & treatment, and cancer prevention.

The Onco’Zine Brief is a program for healthcare professionals, including oncologists, hematologists, oncology nurses and general practitioners involved in the diagnostics, treatment, management, and care of cancer patients. But The Onco’Zine Brief is also a program for cancer patients themselves and their family and friends.

Scheduled programs (February – December 2020)

February 2020 A conversation about medical marijuana. Although the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized or approved bioactive constituents/compounds derived from the Cannabis sativa plant (marijuana) as medicine, there certain benefits cancer patients may derive from the medical use of? medical cannabis (the preferred language).

Researchers are, for example, evaluating a product containing a proprietary CBD:THC combination in the treatment of recurrent glioblastoma multiforme, or GBM, a particularly aggressive brain tumor which is considered a rare disease by the FDA and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). Studies by scientists at St George’s, University of London, in London, UK, for the first to showed an effect on brain tumors when combining cannabinoids with irradiation. Their research, published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, showed that tumor growth in mouse brain was significantly slowed when a combination of THC and CBD was used with irradiation.? The same study showed that tumor inhibition was higher than observed with irradiation alone.

A different, placebo-controlled Phase II study evaluating a number of safety and exploratory efficacy endpoints of a combination of cannabidiol (CBD) and the psychoactive cannabinoid ?9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in 21 patients with recurrent glioblastoma, showed that patients treated with CBD:THC as add-on therapy to dose-intense temozolomide (TMZ) had an 83% one-year survival compared with 44% for patients on placebo (plus dose-intense temozolomide) (p=0.042). Median survival time for the CBD:THC group was greater than 662 days compared with 369 days in the placebo group. Two year survival was 50% for patients treated with CBD:THC + TMZ versus 22% for patients treated with placebo + TMZ. Median survival time for the CBD:THC group was greater than 662 days compared with 369 days in the placebo group. The researchers conducting the study noted that the combination of CBD:THC was generally well tolerated.

In the program we will also discuss other benefit cancer patients may have from using medical cannabis, including a reduction of pain and nausea. And we will discuss the difference between medical marijuana (available in some states via dispensaries) and pharmaceutical cannabinoid based drug which are currently in clinical trial programs and may be approved by the FDA and other regulators around the world.

In February we will also discuss a variety of other topics, including disparities in cancer care and, in collaboration with the editors of ADC Review | Journal of Antibody-drug Conjugates, a special program about manufacturing of complex drugs such Antibody-drug Conjugates.? And we will also talk about how we are driving toward a world where cancer is treated more like a chronic condition than a death sentence as well as the importance of engaging patients in the treatment process.

March 2020 In February 2000, President Clinton officially dedicated March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Since those early days, National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month has become an annual rallying point for anyone effected by colorectal cancer, including patients, advocates, survivors, caregivers and healthcare professionals to join together to share the latest news about colorectal cancer.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of death from cancers that affect both men and women. Colorectal cancer affects all racial and ethnic groups and is most common in people ages 50 and older.

There are often no signs or symptoms of colorectal cancer. That’s why, to prevent colorectal cancer, is is important to get screened regularly starting at age 50.

To increase awareness about the importance of colorectal cancer screening, The Onco?Zine Brief is proudly participating in Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. In March we will present 3 programs, each including a conversation with healthcare professionals.

Finally, in March we will cover the latest news from the ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium being held February 28-March 2, 2019. The Symposium will feature more than 55 expert faculty discussing the latest clinical and translational advances in immuno-oncology. We will interview a number of the participating physicians to help our listeners gain insight that will help them better understand the complexity of science in oncology.

April 2020During the upcoming annual meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), being held March 29 ? April 3, in the Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia The Onco’Zine Brief we?ll develop 4 shows covering the different aspects and new developments in Cancer Research. The shows are styled as 4 roundtables with Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs). Two of the shows will include interviews with the current, outgoing, president of the AACR and the new, incoming president of the organization.

May 2020 In May The Onco’Zine Brief will organize a series of roundtables discussing the increasingly complex oncology landscape from the clinical and clinician/physician perspectives. The planned program will also discuss oral health and the link between oral health and various forms of mouth and throat cancer. Including diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

June 2020During the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), being held May 31 ? June 3, 2018 in the Chicago, Illinois, we?ll develop 4 shows covering new clinical development in cancer research, education, and promotion of the highest-quality patient care. The planned shows are styled as 4 roundtables with Key Opinion Leaders and Experts. During the shows we?ll discuss the impact of new ideas in the treatment of cancer.

July – December 2020 Scheduled for later in 2019 The Onco’Zine Brief covers of a number of medical society meetings, including CPhI, American Society of Hematology (ASH), the European Hematology Society (EHA), The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO), a 4 part series about cancer and suicide and, during breast cancer awareness month, a series about breast cancer.

Underwriting support For information about The Onco’Zine Brief, click here. To find out how you can support the program, contact Shaun Mehr